Ask Doug: Juggling School and Sports
Baseball Factory
April 11, 2008
By Doug Glanville
Doug Glanville is working with the Baseball Factory and Team One Baseball as a Special Consultant. He will be writing articles and looking for your questions and feedback. If you have a question for Doug, please email him at askdoug@baseballfactory.com.
Q: So how does a college athlete maintain academic success when so much time is simultaneously demanded by his/her respective sports program? My kid is disciplined and has good time management skills, but college academics -- and college baseball -- are surely more demanding. Can you shed some light on your experience adjusting to such a demanding schedule? Can you provide any insights into what kids can expect and how kids can successfully juggle both college academics and athletics?
A: Probably one of the more challenging adjustments for a high school graduate going into college is in balancing his/her schedule. One thing that I know has increased exponentially since I was a college student is the amount of activities available to students. There is now an entire world on the Internet that could take all of your time if you are not careful.
Some people have a natural sense of time management in the same way some people just can hit a low fastball without thinking about it. I would venture to say that most high school students have a strong sense of time commitments since they are very active these days. The skills developed in that process are exactly what will help him adjust to the next level.
Like any other life change, the elements of success do not change much no matter what the level. If your son is disciplined, a hard worker, and expects to get good results from such a marvelous track record, then part of that mentality is now imprinted in him. He may have to be patient in the time it takes to adjust and learn the new game, but those tried and true characteristics will always serve him well.
I find one of the key traits in any adjustment is patience. I know it wasn’t until my junior year when I finally felt socially comfortable with my niche. Other areas didn’t take as long, for example, my sophomore year was when I got the flow of being an engineering student.
One thing to consider is regarding his advanced placement skills; he may be able to set up his curriculum to take one less class in the Spring semester when baseball is at a fever pitch. That way he will be able to have a lighter load when his schedule gets crowded. I was able to do that for most of my college career from having a wonderful high school academic program.
He also needs to understand why he is in college in the first place. There will be moments where he may need to make tough choices. Do I miss this exam for a game? I took a lot of heat for missing one game to study for an engineering final, but I made that choice and stuck with it. In my opinion your school should be first. If someone wants to pay you to perform at the next level, then fine, priorities can shift, but they need to give you a good reason.
I am sure you son will do well. Let him know that it takes time to figure things out, but he will always gravitate back to his center, and it sounds like he has that solid as a rock.
Doug
Republished from The Baseball Factory
